This may sound cold but...

[Retail Associate]

...if you wanted to kill yourself, would you go to the local big-box retailer, sit on the toilet in the women's bathroom and slit your wrists?

Well, some woman did that tonight.

I was in the stall next to her. She was silent. When I left my stall to wash my hands I noticed a few drops of blood on the floor in that stall. I just figured it was 'that time of the month' and she missed the toilet. I washed my hands and went out to my car for lunch. Soon after, an ambulance arrived. When I returned inside everyone was talking about it. I guess she just let the blood run on the floor for anyone to see.

Me thinks she didn't necessarily want to die but wanted some big-time attention. She got it. The store was a-buzz.

[Seshat]

...if you wanted to kill yourself, would you go to the local big-box retailer, sit on the toilet in the women's bathroom and slit your wrists?

Maybe, if you were too depressed to think things through. Even someone who's 'just' after attention and can't think of any better way to get it, is in a bad place in their head.

Hopefully she's got some psych (iatrist or ologist, so long as they're skilled) helping her now.

[JustADude]

Me thinks she didn't necessarily want to die but wanted some big-time attention. She got it. The store was a-buzz.

Agreed. The people that are serious about it don't slit their wrists, let alone do it in a public place like that. I'll bet she did it across, too. Sorry if that sounds heartless, but if someone actually WANTS to die, they're gone.

I was suicidal for a short time and, after serious thinking on the subject, reached the conclusion that the only two options that met my criteria were swallowing a .45 or laying my head across a railroad tie at night. No pain and no chance of going "Oh crap, I want to LIVE!" after you've done something irrevocable. Since I don't own a gun I started looking up rail-schedules for the area. Oddly enough, though, the effort I had to put forth to plan my own demise snapped me out of it.

That, pretty much, is why I get snarky when I hear things like that.

EDIT:

Maybe, if you were too depressed to think things through. Even someone who's 'just' after attention and can't think of any better way to get it, is in a bad place in their head.

Point taken. I do hope she gets help, but I can't stop thinking that these are the same kinds of people that demand an employee's help finding something rather than bothering to look at signs saying where everything is.

[cinema guy]

Sometimes it only takes a small thing to push someone who is depressed into wanting to die. And when you really want to die, you want the pain of living to end now.

I tried to slit my wrists on my second suicide attempt, only couldn't quite manage it. So I swallowed 50 anti-depressant tablets instead. I wanted to die that time for sure.

Trying it in public is probably a call for help, though. Although attempting suicide isn't exactly a rational cry for help.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I was suicidal for a short time and, after serious thinking on the subject, reached the conclusion that the only two options that met my criteria were swallowing a .45 or laying my head across a railroad tie at night. No pain and no chance of going "Oh crap, I want to LIVE!" after you've done something irrevocable. Since I don't own a gun I started looking up rail-schedules for the area. Oddly enough, though, the effort I had to put forth to plan my own demise snapped me out of it.
is.

This is why people think men are more likely to be suicidal than women. Fact is, they are just more likely to choose a more 'definitive' method, and therefore actually succeed more often. Men more often go for guns or jumping from tall buildings, women are more likely to try to overdose or cut themselves, which is much less certain and leaves more opportunity for someone to find you and get you to a hospital for treatment before it's too late. Whether that indicates more ambivalence on the part of women, I don't know...

[KiyaraSabel]

Wow.... that.... must suck abysmally... Just knowing someone had (tried to?) killed themself sitting no more than five feet from you...

I went through some times where I thought I wanted to kill myself.... couldn't think of an appropriate method and then I grew up and realized it would have solved nothing. Just another pointless end, and my family would have been distraught... My mom would have blamed herself and probably gotten even more depressed... in the end I just couldn't do that to the people I loved, it hurt bad enough when my brother died from medical malpractice, someone killing themselves and feeling like you could have done something would be even worse.

[cinema guy]

and realized it would have solved nothing.

Actually it will sove everything - for the depressed person. It will just leave an unholy mess for everyone else. Unfortunately it's not about growing up, it's about getting better, either naturally or with help.

BookstoreEscapee - women are twice as likely to suffer from depression than men, but depressed men are more likely to attempt suicide (IIRC).

[Max]

Unfortunately it's not about growing up, it's about getting better, either naturally or with help.

Thank you for your post; I couldn't have said it better. I find it very upsetting when people refer to depression as though it is a symptom of immaturity (one that they grew out of and that others should too) rather than a horribly debillitating mental illness. Although some people might be able to simply "grow out of it", others suffer for years and see no other cure than suicide.

Maybe we can all withhold judgment and simply pray for those who are in pain.

[BookstoreEscapee]

BookstoreEscapee - women are twice as likely to suffer from depression than men, but depressed men are more likely to attempt suicide (IIRC).

or women are more likely to seek treatment and therefore are perceived as having more depression? i've read both theories...and I take antidepressants and i've read a lot. you can probably find something out there to support every side of the debate...i won't try to pretend i even know the real answer...

[Tria]

Just another pointless end, and my family would have been distraught... My mom would have blamed herself and probably gotten even more depressed...

Heh, when I was suicidal an idea popped into my head.... "Why make my family happy?" I decided that keeping my mom from happiness was worth being miserable....

[cinema guy]

. i've read both theories...and I take antidepressants and i've read a lot. you can probably find something out there to support every side of the debate...i won't try to pretend i even know the real answer...

You are probably right. I've had a quick look at a few sites and have seen statistics that support what I have been told in the past and the other side of the arguement.

The depression support group I used to attend had a roughly equal number of men and women.

My favourite description of depression: "It's not the worst thing in the world. It just feels like it."

[Aldous]

Reminds me of a story from my really awesome manager. She worked at an ice-cream place. And one day when she opened up, she went back to the freezer and saw her manager hanging from the rafters. He did himself in after he closed the store. My poor manager broke down after telling me that story.

[Broomjockey]

And one day when she opened up, she went back to the freezer and saw her manager hanging from the rafters. He did himself in after he closed the store.

I'm horrible. First thing I thought on reading that was "killed himself in the freezer? What a stiff."

[JustADude]

I'm horrible. First thing I thought on reading that was "killed himself in the freezer? What a stiff."

Bad Broomjockey, BAD! NO COOKIE!



Still, that was a guy was dead set (pun intended) on taking himself out. He 1) picked a method that was quick and, depending on the knot and the drop, relatively painless, 2) picked a spot he knew he wouldn't be found until it was too late, and 3) did it (presumably) without warning to those who might try to stop him. Of course, that might also be seen as my finding it more rational because we're both guys.

Betcha having a study on what suicide methods seen as 'best' by men vs women isn't going to happen any time soon, though.

Still, I sincerely hope that, whatever it was that drove him to step out of the mortal coil, he found what he was looking for.

[Retail Associate]

Wow.... that.... must suck abysmally... Just knowing someone had (tried to?) killed themself sitting no more than five feet from you...

After the shock of hearing what she had actually done wore off, I felt a bit quilty because I just thought she was being a slob like all the other SCs who make messes in the store. When I saw the blood dripping on the floor (just a few drops at that point) I was disgusted and thought to myself, "Jeez you pig, get on the damn toilet!"